POWER SUPPLY in several areas affected by Tropical Storm Nalgae, locally named Paeng, have yet to be restored as of Tuesday, according to reports from electricity distributors.
Three electric cooperatives — covering Aurora, Nueva Ecija and Busuanga — were still under total power interruption, based on reports submitted to the National Electrification Administration (NEA).
Twelve other cooperatives in Luzon and the Visayas, the northern and central parts of the Philippines, reported damage to their facilities with a total estimated cost of P7.42 million.
NEA said 13 electric cooperatives in areas that were still under tropical cyclone wind signal #1 as of Monday have yet to report their status.
About 96 electric cooperatives serving 1,174 municipalities were affected. Of these, 73.6% or 867 have been fully energized, the agency said.
Meanwhile, the country’s largest distributor, Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), said 13,168 customers were still without power as of Tuesday. Majority of these customers are in Laguna, and the rest are in Quezon, Bulacan, Batangas, Cavite, Rizal, and Metro Manila.
The company said about four million customers experienced momentary and sustained power interruptions within its franchise area during the storm that swept through the country the weekend.
“We are now on the last mile of our restoration activities. While there are still few isolated areas because of flooding, we are optimistic that if conditions permit, we will be able to restore services to the remaining customers within the day,” Meralco Vice President and Head of Corporate Communications Joe R. Zaldarriaga said in a statement on Viber.
In a separate report, the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines said it has completed the restoration of its 63 power transmission lines that were affected by the storm. — Ashley Erika O. Jose